Wednesday, January 22, 2014

According to British experts, Russia is
in the world top three in terms of military expenditure. The country is
increasing its military spending, because Russian defense industry is in
need of revamping and the army needs to be rearmed. However, the
Russian military-industrial complex is nowhere near the absolute
leadership in terms of expenditure. The first place is firmly occupied
by the United States whose army is the backbone of the economy.

By the end of 2013 Russia became one of
the top three leaders in terms of spending on weapons, which is not
surprising. In the past year 68 billion dollars was invested in the
military-industrial complex of the Russian Federation. These data were
published by the Organization IHS Jane's that conducted relevant
research.

Russia has no intention to cut its
military spending. On the contrary, even a more significant amount - $78
billion dollars will be invested in the Russian military-industrial
complex in 2014, and each subsequent year the defense spending will
increase by $10 billion.

However, Russian experts believe that
Russia's accession to the top of this ranking (especially given that it
comes from a British study) does not mean that Russia will be able to
quickly move the undisputed leaders of the defense - the U.S. and China,
which is not surprising given the political system of China and the
U.S. aggressive philosophy.

"Russian cannot become a leader in
military spending in the coming years, even decades. Why? It is
sufficient to compare our spending and that of the Americans," Boris
Yulin, a historian and military expert shared with Pravda.Ru.
"The fact that Russia is on the third place does not mean that we are
only a little behind. We are lagging behind significantly. The entire
U.S. economy rests exclusively on military power. That is, the dollar is
backed by the American aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines and
aircraft, American military bases around the world, and not the American
economy."

The expert stressed a very important
point - the Russian army is equipped with very outdated weapons. In
fact, Russia's defense industry requires enormous funds, not because the
defense industry requires development, but because, in principle, the
Russian army needs to be rearmed. According to Boris Yulin, there is a
need to eliminate one big gap that occurred in the defense industry in
the 1990s and early 2000s, the period when there was no military
construction, production was halted, and the survivors managed to stay
afloat only because of foreign orders.

"Today we have to make a breakthrough, because we have been disarming for a quarter of a century," told Pravda.Ru
Colonel-General, historian and president of the Academy of Geopolitical
Issues Leonid Ivashov. "We declared that we had no external enemies,
that we served as an example of a peaceful nation, and robbed and
disarmed the entire defense sector and budget, privatized defense
industry, and destroyed the armed forces.

According to the officer, the increased
investment in the Russian military-industrial complex is due to global
military and political events of recent years that clearly showed the
West's position in relation to the countries rich in natural resources.

"It is extremely difficult to rebuild
what was being destroyed for a quarter of a century, despite the fact
that the defense is constructed as a system. Today, some elements of the
system are preserved through the activity of the designers and
directors. Something was preserved by foreign orders, trading on the
global arms market'; something was preserved in Ukraine, Belarus, and so
on. Now the task is to combine it all and give it a new spin, a new
modern quality to the weapons required by the army. Today we may not be
the third," suggested Leonid Ivashov, adding that Russia will never be
the leader. "Because from time immemorial we have had a defensive rather
than aggressive policy, and the defense is less expensive than the
offense."

It appears that Russia does not have a
goal to be a global leader in terms of defense expenditure. That is, of
course, the military might needs to be enhanced, and advanced weapons,
missile defense system, and so on need to be developed. High military
spending is an indicator of a country's foreign policy.

The U.S. is building its dominant role
in world affairs through active hostilities. China is climbing towards
global leadership by conducting a military reform. Russia's development
of military industry has other reasons. Russia cannot ignore major
combat operations conducted in the last decades on the Eurasian
continent when most of its land is occupied by Russia. Today it is
extremely important for Russia to develop air defense systems, space
defense and other branches of the armed forces, which would provide
reliable protection of the Russian borders and continue to give weight
to Russia's decisions regarding world events. Let major military
spending remain the privilege of the countries whose economies would
immediately collapse without these injections.

1. You can read books in the bath.

Ever try to read your Kindle or Nook
in the tub? Well don’t. It’s terrifying. If you drop that thing it’ll be
gone forever. Not to mention it fogs up from the steam. Accidentally
drop your book in your bubbles? Blow dry it after! Good as new. Nothing
to fear here, literature lovers.

2. No need to turn off your book on a plane!

We all fear that moment when the
pilot asks us to kindly turn off all of our devices, don’t we? Of course
you would only need to turn off your e-reader for a few minutes, but
what if that’s the most tantalizing part of the book? Books don’t need
to be put away ever. Read on, book buddy!

3. You can read in the sun.

Heading to the beach for the day?
Taking a tropical vacation or floating in the pool? Your book can come
with you! The majority of e-readers can’t be used in direct sunlight.
The screen goes dark and suddenly your stranded with a book you can’t
read. Regular old school books will never disappoint you like that.

4. They fill your shelves.

Hellllooo! Bookcases! I suppose you
could fill your shelves with various e-readers (there are so many
different kinds), but how pretty would that look? There’s nothing quite
like finding the perfect space for your latest book purchase, am I
right?

5. Antique books are amazing.

There will never be a first edition
of an e-book. Simple as that. How amazing is it to find an original
classic to add to your collection? The covers are always a little beaten
up and that’s what makes them perfect. There’s nothing quite like
holding a classic novel.

6. You can’t get an e-book signed.

Unless you plan on collecting
signatures on your Kindle, you’re not going to any book signings with
your e-reader anytime soon. Autographed books make thoughtful and
personal gifts. Authors are flattered to sign hard copies of their
publications, but they can’t physically sign an e-book…

7. Libraries and bookstores!

If you’re a book nerd, you know the
importance of libraries and bookstores. The smell of all that paper and
knowledge in one room is almost too much to handle. These majestic
places wouldn’t even exist without books!

8. Finishing a long book is more rewarding this way.

Of course finishing any book is rewarding, but closing the back cover of a thousand-page book (like Game of Thrones) feels SO much better than flicking your finger across a screen and discovering you’ve reached the end.

9. They inspire tattoos!

When was the last time you saw someone with a Nook tattooed on them? Exactly. You haven’t. Because books are cooler.

10. Books don’t die.

Pages may fall out and covers may get
ripped, but books won’t just die on you. There is nothing more
frustrating than getting to a juicy part of a story and having your
e-reader’s battery die. Printed books won’t fail you.

11. Books are at least 20% faster

Studies show that books are 20% faster reading due to the deflate compression always built into the mobi, epub. Yes, devices have to decompress every page taking 10 seconds per page. LEDs and LCDs create dizziness! If reader reads some books, it avoids zip decompression, and eye strain.

12. Ebooks are Torrents, retail Ebooks price gouge

You are paying for an inferior epub that is available free as a torrent , might as well pay for a used paperback. Barnes and Noble sells used paperback for 50% less with no account.

12. No Windows file system

Books do not use FAT32 file systems. impossible to get damaged from over usage. My ebook Amazon Kindle only had 3 hour lifespans, stupid, when your learning something.

13. Myspace started it

Myspace and Facebook JPEG sharing somehow decreased mailing printed photographs; whereby, it evolved into books in epub / mobi. I know this, because I have physical photo albums and paper books, and they both look like books to me.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Mighty Morphin Power Ranger videos (1993) was censored on Youtube and they kept episode 2. They got 11,600 and 4350 hits on there. This is some of the top 10 episodes of the series. It was one of the only ways to go viral on Youtube.